ETHICAL PRINCIPLES AND PUBLICATION POLICY

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

Semptom Health Researches adheres to the guidelines established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), which provide guidance for authors, reviewers, and editors.

Semptom Health Researches expects all stakeholders involved in the publication process, including authors, readers, researchers, publishers, reviewers, and editors, to comply with the ethical responsibilities outlined below to contribute to the impartial and accurate advancement of science.

The following ethical responsibilities have been established in accordance with the guidelines and policies developed by COPE.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are expected to:

• Guarantee the originality of manuscripts submitted for publication.

• Refrain from submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously.

• Refrain from submitting previously published full-text conference papers as journal articles.

• Ensure that submitted manuscripts have not previously been published elsewhere.

• Prevent inappropriate or unjustified authorship.

• Clearly state each author's contribution (e.g., study design, data collection, analysis, and writing), any financial support or funding sources, and declarations of conflicts of interest at the end of the manuscript, before the References section, in multi-authored studies.

• Disclose any circumstances or relationships that may constitute a conflict of interest.

• Ensure that the research has been approved by the relevant Ethics Committee, that informed consent has been obtained from participants, and that necessary institutional permissions have been secured, and report these details in the Methods section.

• Obtain signed informed consent for case reports and disclose this information in the Methods section.

• Ensure that animal rights are protected in accordance with the principles outlined in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (www.nap.edu/catalog/5140.html), obtain approval from the relevant Ethics Committee and necessary institutional permissions, and report these details in the Methods section.

• Provide accurate citations in accordance with the journal's author guidelines and include complete references.

• Obtain written permission from copyright holders and authors when using previously published texts, tables, figures, images, scales, or other copyrighted materials, and acknowledge these permissions in the manuscript.

• Be prepared to provide relevant information or raw data to the Editorial Board upon request during the evaluation process.

• Refrain from requesting changes to the author order or the addition or removal of authors after a manuscript has been accepted or published.

• Inform the journal editors of any conflicts of interest, ethical violations, or errors identified in manuscripts under review, published online ahead of print, or formally published, and cooperate with the editors in correction or retraction procedures.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

General Duties and Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for:

• Making efforts to respond to requests for scientific information from readers and authors.

• Ensuring the continuous development of the journal.

• Improving the scientific quality of published articles.

• Supporting freedom of expression.

• Maintaining academic integrity.

• Managing editorial processes without compromising intellectual property rights or ethical standards.

• Maintaining transparency and openness in matters requiring corrections or comments.

Relationships with Readers

Editors should make decisions by considering the knowledge, skills, needs, and expectations of readers, researchers, and practitioners. They should aim to ensure that published studies are original and contribute to the scientific literature. Editors should also consider feedback from researchers and practitioners and provide clear and informative responses.

Relationships with Authors

Editors should:

• Make editorial decisions based on the significance, originality, validity, clarity, and relevance of manuscripts to the journal's aims and scope.

• Consider manuscripts within the journal's scope for preliminary evaluation unless they contain serious problems.

• Avoid disregarding positive recommendations from reviewers unless substantial concerns exist regarding the manuscript.

• Avoid overturning decisions made by previous editors unless serious concerns arise.

• Make every effort to prevent deviations from the established blind peer review and evaluation procedures.

• Provide authors with clear and informative feedback.

Relationships with Reviewers

Editors should:

• Select reviewers whose expertise is appropriate to the subject of the manuscript.

• Provide reviewers with the information and guidance necessary to complete their evaluations.

• Monitor potential conflicts of interest between reviewers and authors.

• Protect reviewers' identities throughout the double-blind peer review process.

• Encourage reviewers to evaluate manuscripts impartially, scientifically, and objectively.

• Develop policies to improve reviewer performance.

• Maintain and regularly update the reviewer database.

• Prevent discourteous and unscientific reviews.

Relationships with the Editorial Board

Editors should:

• Ensure that Editorial Board members carry out their duties in accordance with established editorial processes, publication policies, and guidelines.

• Inform Editorial Board members about editorial procedures and journal policies.

• Ensure that manuscripts are evaluated impartially and independently.

• Appoint qualified Editorial Board members who can contribute to the journal.

• Assign manuscripts for evaluation according to the expertise of Editorial Board members.

• Maintain effective communication with the Editorial Board.

• Organize meetings to improve editorial procedures and publication policies.

Relationships with the Journal Owner and Publisher

The relationship between editors and the publisher is based on the principle of editorial independence. Under the agreement between the editors and the publisher, all editorial decisions are made independently of the publisher and journal owner.

Editorial and Double-Blind Peer Review Processes

Editors are responsible for implementing the policies outlined in the journal's Blind Peer Review and Evaluation Process. Accordingly, they must ensure that each manuscript is reviewed impartially, fairly, and in a timely manner.

Quality Assurance

Editors must ensure that every article published in the journal complies with the journal's publication policies and international standards.

Protection of Personal Information

Editors are responsible for protecting the personal data of research participants and individuals depicted in images included in submitted manuscripts. Manuscripts must be rejected when the necessary consent documentation is absent. Editors are also responsible for protecting the personal information of authors, reviewers, and readers.

Ethics Committee Approval and Human and Animal Rights

Editors are responsible for ensuring the protection of human and animal rights in submitted studies. They must reject studies lacking the necessary Ethics Committee approval or permissions for experimental research.

Measures Against Potential Misconduct and Abuse

Editors are responsible for taking measures against potential misconduct and abuse of authority. They must conduct careful and objective investigations into allegations of misconduct, evaluate complaints, and communicate relevant findings.

Ensuring Academic Integrity

Editors must ensure that errors, inconsistencies, or misleading statements in published studies are corrected promptly.

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Editors are responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights associated with published articles and defending the rights of both the journal and the authors in cases of potential infringement. They must also take the necessary precautions to ensure that published articles do not violate the intellectual property rights of other publications.

Constructive Engagement and Openness to Discussion

Editors should consider credible criticisms of published studies and respond constructively. Authors of criticized articles must be given an opportunity to respond. Studies reporting negative findings must not be disregarded or excluded.

Complaints

Editors must investigate complaints received from authors, reviewers, or readers and provide clear and informative responses.

Political and Commercial Concerns

Independent editorial decisions must not be influenced by the journal owner, publisher, or any political or commercial interests.

Conflicts of Interest

Editors must consider potential conflicts of interest involving authors, reviewers, and other editors and ensure that the publication process is conducted independently and impartially.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to:

• Accept review invitations only for manuscripts within their areas of expertise.

• Conduct reviews impartially and confidentially.

• Inform the journal editor and decline to review a manuscript if a conflict of interest is identified.

• Destroy or securely delete reviewed manuscripts after completing the review process, in accordance with confidentiality principles. Reviewers may use the final published version of a manuscript only after its publication.

• Evaluate manuscripts objectively, focusing exclusively on scientific content, without allowing nationality, gender, religion, political opinions, or economic considerations to influence their assessments.

• Provide constructive and courteous evaluations and avoid hostile, defamatory, insulting, or personal remarks.

• Complete accepted reviews within the specified timeframe and in accordance with ethical principles.

Ethical Responsibilities of the Publisher

• Editors are responsible for all editorial processes concerning manuscripts submitted to Semptom Health Researches. Editorial decisions are made by editors independently of economic or political interests.

• The publisher recognizes and respects independent editorial decision-making.

Unethical Conduct

If you encounter any unethical conduct or content that falls outside the ethical responsibilities outlined above at Semptom Health Researches, please notify the journal by email at info@semptom.org.

PUBLICATION POLICY

MANUSCRIPT EVALUATION AND ACCEPTANCE PROCESS

All manuscripts submitted to Semptom Health Researches undergo an initial editorial assessment to determine their suitability for the journal's aims and scope, scientific originality, academic quality, publication ethics, and author guidelines.

Submitted manuscripts are screened using similarity detection software such as iThenticate, Turnitin, or intihal.net. Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding 20%, calculated excluding the reference list, are subject to further evaluation regarding the nature of the similarities and possible plagiarism. The similarity index alone is not considered evidence of an ethical violation. Manuscripts involving plagiarism, data manipulation, duplicate publication, or salami slicing may be rejected before peer review, with the reasons for rejection clearly communicated.

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial assessment are examined by the editorial secretariat for compliance with the journal's author guidelines. Where necessary, manuscripts are subsequently evaluated by statistical and language editors. After these stages have been completed, a section editor is assigned according to the relevant field of expertise.

The journal operates a double-blind peer review system. Section editors assign manuscripts to at least two independent reviewers with expertise in the relevant subject area. The identities of authors and reviewers remain mutually confidential throughout the review process.

Reviewers are given five days to respond to review invitations. Reviewers who accept an invitation are expected to complete their evaluations within 15 days. If an invitation is declined or no response is received within the specified period, the section editor may appoint another reviewer.

Based on reviewer reports, manuscripts may receive decisions of acceptance, revision, or rejection. When both reviewers provide favorable evaluations, the manuscript is submitted to the journal editor for a final decision, together with the section editor's assessment. If reviewer reports conflict, the opinion of a third reviewer may be requested. Although reviewer reports form an essential basis for editorial decisions, the final publication decision rests with the journal editor.

Authors are expected to complete requested revisions and upload the revised manuscript to the journal's online submission system within 15 days. Revised manuscripts may be returned to reviewers for further evaluation when necessary.

The journal aims to complete the manuscript evaluation process within approximately three months. However, this period may vary depending on peer review and revision requirements. All submission, evaluation, and decision-making procedures are conducted electronically.

The editor and Editorial Board determine the issue in which accepted manuscripts will be published. Typographical, linguistic, and formatting errors identified during final pre-publication checks may be corrected without altering the scientific content of the manuscript and, where necessary, with the authors' approval.

Semptom Health Researches follows the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in its procedures for manuscript withdrawal, article retraction, correction, and removal to safeguard the reliability of scientific publications and the integrity of the scholarly record.

Withdrawal of Manuscripts Under Review

Authors may submit a justified request to withdraw manuscripts during preliminary editorial assessment or peer review. The corresponding author must submit the withdrawal request to the journal editor through the OJS platform or by email at bongoren@gmail.com.

The editor evaluates the request and informs the author of the outcome. The manuscript must not be submitted to another journal until the withdrawal process has been completed.

Retraction of Published Articles

Retraction procedures may be initiated when plagiarism, fabrication or manipulation of data, duplicate publication, serious methodological errors, or scientific and ethical concerns that undermine the reliability of research findings are identified in published articles.

Retraction requests may be submitted by authors, editors, or relevant third parties. Such requests are evaluated by the editor and, when necessary, the Editorial Board in accordance with COPE principles.

Retracted articles remain accessible in the electronic archive to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record and are clearly marked "Retracted." A separate retraction notice explaining the reasons for the retraction is published and linked to the original article.

Correction Policy

When significant errors are identified in published articles that require correction but do not invalidate the main findings of the research, a correction notice may be published. Corrections are linked to the original article and made accessible to readers.

Expression of Concern

When serious concerns arise regarding the scientific reliability or ethical integrity of an article, but the investigation has not yet been completed, the editor may publish an expression of concern.

Article Removal

Complete removal of published articles from public access is considered only in exceptional circumstances involving legal obligations, serious violations of personal privacy, or threats to public safety. Whenever possible, the bibliographic record of the article and the reasons for its removal are preserved.

Submission and Evaluation of Requests

Requests for retraction, correction, and reports of ethical misconduct may be submitted through the OJS platform or by email at bongoren@gmail.com.

The Editorial Board aims to acknowledge receipt of such requests within 15 days. The time required to reach a final decision may vary depending on the nature of the investigation and the inquiries required.

DIGITAL ARCHIVING AND PRESERVATION POLICY

Semptom Health Researches implements a digital archiving and preservation policy to ensure the long-term preservation, accessibility, and sustainability of published scientific works and the scholarly record.

Zenodo Archiving and DOI Assignment

Articles published in the journal are archived in Zenodo, a digital repository developed by CERN and supported by OpenAIRE. Each article is assigned a persistent Digital Object Identifier (DOI) through Zenodo, supporting the permanent identification, accessibility, and citation of scholarly works.

PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN)

To strengthen its long-term digital preservation infrastructure, the journal has enabled the PKP Preservation Network plugin within Open Journal Systems (OJS). The status of archiving and preservation activities through PKP PN is regularly monitored.

Self-Archiving

Authors may share the final published version of their articles (Publisher's PDF) in institutional repositories, academic databases, or personal websites without an embargo period, provided that they properly cite the original publication and comply with the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.

Open Access and Long-Term Preservation

Articles published in the journal are made openly accessible. The digital preservation policy aims to ensure the long-term accessibility of scientific content and maintain the integrity of publication records.

FEE POLICY

No fees are charged for manuscript evaluation or publication. Authors do not receive payment for articles published in the journal.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSING

Copyright and Publication Permission

Authors submitting manuscripts to Semptom Health Researches electronically declare that they accept the journal's copyright and open access policies.

Authors grant Semptom Health Researches permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, make publicly accessible, and preserve their manuscripts in digital archives.

This permission does not constitute a transfer of copyright to the publisher. Authors retain their copyright and moral rights.

Articles published in the journal are made openly accessible under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License.

Electronic declarations and acceptance recorded through the Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform during manuscript submission are considered sufficient. No separately signed or handwritten copyright agreement is required.

Copyright ownership of previously published articles is determined in accordance with the ownership arrangements and publication conditions applicable at the time of their publication.